Wii continues PS3, Xbox 360 slaughter in Japan
By John Pospisil
Just released sales figures show that the Nintendo Wii gaming console is continuing its slaughter of the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Microsoft Xbox 360 in the critical Japanese market.
Sales figures collected by Media Create show that in the week April 23 to April 29, 102,522 Wiis were sold, compared to just 12,791 PS3s.
This means that the Wii is outselling the PS3 by a factor of 8.5 to 1.
The slightly good news for Sony is that PS3 sales were up slightly on previous weeks, and that the PS3 outsold the Xbox by a factor of 4 to 1. Only 3,162 Xbox 360s were sold.
But then again even the PS2, which sold 12,584 units, outsold the Xbox 360.
While this news might bring joy to smug Wii gamers, I’m not sure that Wii domination is such a good thing. Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 have a lot to offer gamers, but they need to do better in the Japanese market, or both platforms may find that they won’t get the developer attention they deserve.
Yes, it’s great to see Nintendo make a come back with the Wii - but the question is, are we creating a low-cost, low-spec monster?
Related:
Stumble It!
Tips N4G
May 9th, 2007
You guys are so against Nintendo. If Sony was in the same position you’d be glad that they were destroying the competition. But because the underdog is winning you guys have to be so damn biased.
May 9th, 2007
faggots
May 9th, 2007
I agree with the arthur, Wii is low-spec inferior technology. HD is new era and Wii is stuck in the past, it’s just fortunate that most people don’t have HD yet.
May 9th, 2007
Exactly, Steve! MOST people don’t have HD yet. It appears Sony hedged the wrong bet. Better luck with PS4. Until I can get a 52″ 1080p LCD TV for under $1000, I’m not getting either the PS3 (Pay Beyond ™) or X-Brick 360. The Wii is kinda overpriced for what it doesn’t do. My PS2 is sufficient for now until PS3 drops below $150. I refused to be a pawn for Sony’s dreams of ramming Blu-ray down my throat–just so they can kill off HD-DVD. Sony deserves what it’s getting.
May 9th, 2007
Are you a Sony fanboy casue you sure sound like one:(
May 9th, 2007
Just because hardware isn’t exactly “next-gen”, doesn’t mean it’s not superior. Nintendo, I think, has proven that you don’t need cutting edge hardware to win a console race……if you wanna call it that. The fact that only about %15 of people in the U.S. own an HD TV doesn’t directly translate into more sales for Sony and Microsoft. No matter how you look at it, Sony’s beast is overpriced. They included Blu-Ray at their own expense and now they are paying for it; big time. Nintendo chose to make a next-gen system that changed the way you play versus what the games look like. A game can be pretty all day long, but if the gameplay isn’t solid, then the system is doomed. So, I ask, what is truly “next-gen”? Is it gameplay or graphics, or a happy medium between the two?
May 9th, 2007
ShemDemFeurope, I really doubt the PS3 will ever drop below $150 dollars. Have fun with your PS2 for the next 5-10 years!
May 11th, 2007
[…] Still, while we’d expect Bach to hold these views, it’s surprising that he’s so open about them. Could it be that Microsoft is a little jealous of Nintendo’s amazing success with the Wii, in both the US and Japan? Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
May 12th, 2007
Completely biased review I should say. I’m no fanboy either, I enjoy playing games, period. What’s the point if it’s a low-spec monster? Games make a system successful, not just power. I thought we’ve learned that with the old Xbox? Plus, the Wii is cheaper and more intuitive with its design so people of all ages could enjoy it.
I bet some people enjoy playing their $600 PS3 with their $2500 1080p HDTV. Ooooh nice graphics but man, my wallet’s hurting!
June 5th, 2007
[…] situation seems to be getting worse for Sony; in the past Wii has outsold the PS3 by four to one, rather than five to […]
October 8th, 2007
Finally! We come down to it. All this bluster over Nintendo’s unworthy and doomed Wii boils down to a fear of losing development resources to casual gaming projects.
Actually, that fear is not entirely unfounded, at least in the short term. As companies chase the dollars (which they are bound to do), it’s reasonable to assume that they will divert resources to get a slice of the casual gaming market. But if the Wii is doomed then there’s nothing to worry about, is there? But really, there is something to worry about because Nintendo really has created a successful console, and all the blather about how much trouble Nintendo is in and how the Wii is a failure is just wishful thinking. That’s not to say it’s superior. It’s different. Apples and Oranges.
Furthermore, this notion that this has anything to do with which platform is more deserving is childish nonsense. Sony and Nintendo made calculated decisions, took risks. Nintendo took the risk of making a less expensive console by not beefing up the graphics and computing power. Sony took the risk of banking on Blu Ray, resulting in a far higher priced console and the necessity to cut corners in other areas, such as backwards compatability and features such as rumble.
The market spoke, and they’re simply not ready to spend the kind of money that Sony was expecting them to. In the meantime, it turns out that there’s this whole other segment of the market that is eager to jump into gaming.
Truth is, Sony jumped the gun, and they did so because of Blu Ray. They figured a popular console with Blu Ray would tip the scales in their battle against HD DVD. They could easily have done without Blu Ray for a good 3-5 years, released a far more competetive console, and taken the market by storm. They would not have been plagued by production delays, they would have been far more competetive, and the other benefits of system would have kept sales strong. Ironically, Blu Ray has been relatively strong without the help of the PS3. Sony could have waited and added Blu Ray as an add-on, and gradually shifted over to exclusive Blu Ray right about the time that HD sets had decent market penetration.
So it really has nothing to do with which console is superior or more deserving, but with which company bet the right way. Sony’s risks didn’t pay off. Nintendo’s did. Simple as that.
And yes, resources are going to be sucked to where the profits are. That’s a no-brainer. But don’t blame Nintendo. Nintendo and Sony could easily have shared mutual success, since they were and are chasing vastly different consumers. Sony’s enemy is Sony, not Nintendo. Sony’s problems are Sony’s to fix, and if they do so, everyone can game away happily ever after.
October 11th, 2007
Keith, this is me reading your post =D:
Finally! We come down to it. All this bluster over Nintendo’s unworthy and doomed Wii boils down to a fear of losing development resources to…….zzzzZZ.
=_=
November 3rd, 2007
Oh… I’m so happy you’ve worked out your issues and come to accept reality. Good for you! I give you a cookie. And hey, don’t worry. The 360 will get tons of Sports and FPS games and the PS3 will get many games all called Final Fantasy 12, so I think in the end everybody will get what they really wanted. Life may still be worth living after all!